Merger announcement

This will bring the peak body for the specialist family violence sector together with Victoria’s only specialist family violence Registered Training Organisation, combining our strength, energy and resources for greater impact.

A vote by Members of Domestic Violence Victoria was declared in favour of the merger on 26 March, marking the final approval required following earlier decisions by the Boards of both organisations to proceed with a merger. The vast majority of Members represented at the meeting voted in support of the merger.

The prospect of merging has been discussed a number of times in the past decade and DVRCV and DV Vic already work in close partnership. Our respective roles in the Victorian family violence system are highly complementary; our functions are informed by each other’s skills and expertise, and we frequently take shared positions in advocacy and campaigning.

Both organisations enter this merger with the bigger picture in clear sight: Driving the social and cultural change required to end all forms of family violence and violence against women demands new ways of working and joined-up resourcing.

Under a new name and united purpose we will extend our reach and engagement with members and stakeholders alike, and will build the capability of current and emerging workforces to prevent and respond to family violence. Our specialist expertise in family violence and violence against women remains critical to the effective delivery of the Royal Commission’s reforms and we will be positioned to lead and create the transformative change required.

The decision to merge follows 12 months of consultation and due diligence. There is a plan for a staged transition in 2020-21, including development of a new organisational name and brand. We will continue using our existing organisation names until the merger is formalised.

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